in tel aviv injuring 16. this as secretary of state hillary clinton is zigzagging across the middle east seeking a truce to prevent an israeli ground war. late last night boxing great hector macho camacho is shot while sitting in his car. and on the busiest travel day of the year we'll take you to turkey town u.s.a. >> announcer: this is "early today" for wednesday, november 21st, 2012. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. and we are going to begin with the crisis in the middle east. just a short time ago a bomb exploded aboard a bus in tel aviv across the street from israel's military headquarters. 16 people were injured. police say this was not a suicide attack. secretary of state hillary clinton is negotiating right this moment in an attempt to work out a truce to stop the violence in israel and gaza. nbc's chapman bell joins us on the phone now from tel aviv. chapman, good morning. what can you tell us?

>> reporter: good morning, lynn. at this point this bus attack is being described as a terrorist attack. it says it has all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack, but it is not a suicide bomber that police officials can confirm. it seems explosives were placed on a bus in tel aviv. this is the first bus blast in israel since 2004, the last one being on a bus in the southern israeli city of bare shea but near gaza. if this is connected to the current conflicted, there's no confirmation at this point that it is, but this would show a change in tactics from the current tactics being used which is rocket launches from gaza into israel. this comes as secretary of state hillary clinton is here trying to negotiate a ceasefire. she and other senior diplomats from around the world, u.n. secretary ban ki moon as well, trying to come to an agreement.

this occurs just when people were thinking a ceasefire could be in the cards. so if this is connected, this could potentially make a ceasefire negotiation more difficult, but also we're being told police are hunting for a suspect. currently, though, no arrests have been made and no one has claimed credit for the attack. >> chapman bell for us live in tel aviv. thanks so much. we go now to the mayor of jerusalem. secretary of state hillary clinton spent time in jerusalem. mr. mayor, thank you for joining us. how confident are you that this can happen? >> it's very clear that it's short term since the leadership of the hamas believes, like osama bin laden and al qaeda in death and destruction. their charter is to destroy israel. it's very difficult to broker a deal with somebody that wants to kill you.

they're not changing their charter. the challenge here is how do we make sure that the hamas leadership understands that their motivation should be zero, very negative motivation to try and shoot indiscriminate fire on israeli civilians. >> so how far are you prepared to go? if you're seeing a ceasefire can't be agreed upon if motivation is anything but zero, how far are you prepared to go and are you prepared for the repercussions based on those actions? >> the idea is, unlike the hamas trying to kill civilians and hide behind their own civilians, we are focusing on targeting the leadership. i hope and believe the residents, citizens of gaza will go back to leaders and say do us a favor, stop shooting israel. we need to broker maybe a deal, have some quiet. israel is interested in this. i'm sure most residents of gaza are interested. the leadership of the hamas has to make sure that they're not violent against israel. it's a challenge because they

believe in our destruction. >> based on this violence, can you describe for us what this has been like for people in your city? we read about sire wrens going off, children in schools terrified, hundreds seeking shelter. can you describe what it's like? >> of course, it's not the biggest comfort in the world to have sirens go off. everyone in jerusalem and the rest of the country, especially the south and the center are well trained to deal with the situation. what we do is we just go and go to safe zones around us, wait a few minutes and go back home to normal life. jerusalem has not been hit. life here is normal as much as possible. we're continuing our routine and haven't canceled any events. we're ready for the situation. we're giving the prime minister and the israeli army the breath they need to deal with the situation. we had enough, and we must stop this indiscriminate fire.

the israeli government and the israeli security forces have full support by myself and the people of jerusalem and i'm sure the rest of the country. >> nir barkat, mayor of jerusalem, thank you very much for your time. >> thank you so much. back at home, one person is in police custody after the deadly house explosion in indianapolis earlier this month. this is according to our nbc affiliate wthr. officials will only say there have been no arrests and the investigation continues. search warrants were served on tuesday and law enforcement sources tell the "indianapolis star" they now suspect gas was intentionally released into the home and may have been sparked with a remote device. well, former boxing champion hector macho camacho is in serious condition after being shot and wounded last night in puerto rico. camacho was shot in the head and neck while sitting in a car and was rushed to the hospital. police say the bullet struck

camacho in the jaw but exited his head and lodged in his shoulder. he is expected to survive. during his long career he held three world championships and defeated such great fighters as sugar ray leonard. well, fans of elmo and sesame street around the world are hearing about the real life details surrounding the man behind that beloved character. for 28 years kevin clash was not only the voice of elmo, he was also the driving force that helped propel the furry red monster into a global phenomenon. late yesterday clash resigned from sesame street as he was slapped with a multi-million lawsuit claiming he had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy a decade ago. clash issued a statement saying he hopes to resolve his personal matters privately. let's get a check of your getaway day weather. good morning, bill. >> the soggy day. the northwest continues to be a little wet. it is going to improve. thanksgiving day looks better at least in the northwest. let's track some of the rain this morning. the green shows the rain.

the white is the snow. snow levels will come down a little bit in the passes. we'll be okay on interstate 80 and 84. in the morning hours, not as many radar echoes offshore. a more solid band has come in from seattle to olympia. in san francisco, on and off light rain. headed towards sacramento will be a wet ride and towards tahoe. temperatures are warm enough that we should be okay on that road. as far as the forecast goes, the other area of concern out there, after this northwest mess, if anyone is traveling to the midwest, early today we have dense fog problems especially around chicago, st. louis, milwaukee, detroit, indianapolis. a lot of these major airports here are seeing some issues. we will see possible delays until probably about 10:00 or 11:00. then the fog will lift in this area. the visibility is very poor. not what you want. a tenth of a mile visibility at

o'hare airport. southern california lot, looks a dry day in most areas of the northwest for your thanksgiving. complete thanksgiving day forecast coming up. >> bill, thanks so much. legal or illegal? san francisco supervisors may face public nudity issues head on. plus walmart stores are bracing for much more than the usual onslaught of black friday shoppers. details are next. you're watching early today.

a texas woman was convicted of murder after a fire broke out

in her home day care in 2011. four of the seven children left in her care died when she left the kids alone to go shopping. next to washington, d.c. and the sister of petraeus whistle-blower jill kelley went public with attorney gloria allred by her side. she stood by as allred red various statements. by a vote of 6-5, stran supervisors voted to ban public nudity in the city's castro district. violators face a $100 fine. people can still be naked on special event days like gay pride or the street fair. well, bad news from hewlett-packard took wall street by surprise. hp plunged 12% after revealing a company it bought for $10 billion last year lied about its finances. overseas this morning asian stocks fell after european officials failed to release a

loan to debt mired greece. a portfolio investors has been arrested for seeking results of a alzheimer's drug that netted $276 million. federal regulators won't have enough time to prevent protests on black right-hand. research in motion lost another customer, the national transportation safety board. federal defense, immigration and tsa officials have already traded in their blackberries for iphones. the future of hostel is back up in the air after mediation with the second largest union failed yesterday. that's not going to be a problem for this guy in oklahoma. look at that. his freezer is stocked up with enough twinkies, ding dongs, ho-hos and suze q's to last until doomsday.

meet the college basketball player who scored -- get this -- 138 points in a single game. plus we will take you to turkey town, usa on this thanksgiving eve. you're watching "early today."

all right. as millions of americans give thanks tomorrow on thanksgiving, one small community in arkansas will be offering its thanks for the traditional centerpiece of your

national holiday feast and that's because the livelihoods of many of its residents depend on turkeys. nbc's janet shamlian has that story. >> reporter: this is turkey town u.s.a. >> it's a year round thing in ozark. turkey is year round. >> reporter: and turkey pays the bills. from the butterball plant, which employs 400, to the area's 76 farmers. >> reporter: here they all come. >> reporter: the state produces a third of the nation's country. >> people all over the country, you know, is going to eat these turkeys. i've got to take good care of them. >> reporter: michael walker could feed a city the size of chattanooga, tennessee, all by himself. he produces 150,000 a year. >> reporter: in this farm alone there are more than 11,000 turkeys. mike has three others like it. these hens are about six weeks old. that's halfway through the growing process. >> that is thanksgiving dinner for a family in america. >> reporter: so close to thanksgiving there's no down time at the plant. >> it's 34 days straight, about 48,000 birds a day.

>> reporter: only fresh turkeys come off the line now. >> by day 26 or 27 everybody's pretty tired and dragging. >> reporter: norma yates has worked in the turkey industry almost 40 years. in fact. >> i worked there about eight years. >> reporter: it's hard to find anyone here. >> my aunt worked there pulling gizzards. >> reporter: who doesn't have a connection to it. >> my mom worked at butterball. >> reporter: locals say it's not easy work, but in a tough economy, a product most americans buy at least once a year keeps the paychecks coming. and the free bird given to the workers doesn't go to waste. >> reporter: what do you eat for thanksgiving dinner? >> turkey. >> reporter: no. >> yes. yes, of course. >> reporter: catering the holiday meal from a small town that runs on turkey. janet shamlian, nbc news, ozark, arkansas. how about some sports. start with the nba. carmelo anthony went on a scoring bring with 29 points in a 102-80 victory over new orleans. the knicks have eight wins and

only one loss. former knicks coach mike d'antoni made his day daye bu as the new coach of the lakers. the lakers beat the nets 95-90. in college basketball, rodney clark made very long three-pointers to give unranked butler a stunning upset as number nine north carolina, 82-71 at the howie classic in ha why see. meet jack taylor, division three grenel college, set an astounding scoring record with 138 points against faith baptist bible. final score 19-104. unbelievable. he's got the moves. did actor sean connery pass on a movie role that would have earned him close to $500 million? your early morning entertainment is next. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." a lot of people packing up maybe trying to beat the rush. rain still on i-5, especially towards the seattle area. we'll get a break and this afternoon become more scattered. we get those instability showers, a pop of a thunderstorm, too. we'll be watching light rain from san francisco to sacramento. things dramatically improve for thanksgiving day. it looks like most of the showers, if they do approach the northwest will be very late in the day.

most areas look dry. you'll dry out after about three wet days in a row. enjoy it. >> thanks so much. well, if you're in the market for a new apartment, madonna may have something for you. the material girl is selling her new york city duplex for $23.5 million if you have that kind of money. it has six bedrooms and a view of central park. and get this, monthly maintenance alone is over $11,000. all right. speaking of loads of cash, sean connery missed out on $450 million. so how in the world did that happen? well, the legendary actor was offered $10 million and 15% of the box office to play gandalf in the "lord of the rings" films. yeah. well, connery turned down the role because he, quote, didn't understand the script. the movies went on to make $2.29 billion, none of which was conry's. well, you would think being named to barbara walters most fascinating people list would be

the highlight of the week for one direction, but you would be wrong. the british boy band personally greeted queen elizabeth ii when they performed at royal albert hall in london. and one of the band members later said, today i met the queen. i can't believe it. and finally in a recent interview cameron diaz made some bold claims. here is what she says. every woman wants to be objectified. the actress thinks it's empowering and says, quote, i am a woman and i know how to handle myself. >> that i can believe. >> she may want to think about speaking for herself. >> she still made some funny movies. you can forgive her, right? >> we can do that. i think so. this is from kotb 4 in albuquerque where one restaurant thinks you have to go hot or go home. owners of el pinto tried their

hand at making the hottest salsa on the planet. their seek red ingredient, trinidad scorpion peppers, 1,000 times hotter than the average green chilli. we have warnd your taste buds. >> you won't have them. >> proceed at your own risk. you will burn them off. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

the stars of one mexican festival are full of hot air, literally. dozens of hot air balloons were launched into the sky to kick off the international balloon festival.

balloons range in shape and color from teardrop designs to butterflies, even elvis made an appearance. the festival was started to boost tourism and has welcomed nearly 2 million people over the past decade. well, in japan, a new school gives new meaning to teacher's pet. a former mascot has opened her doors to teach the art of costume and movement. each two-hour lesson costs about $26 and involves students suiting up in various animal costumes to learn dance and expression. the owner says many students aim to enter the mascot industry where others just sign up for fun. finally, even our four-legged friends need to watch their waistlines. one breeder in china has placed his pigs on an exercise routine so they can produce leaner and healthier pork. up to three times a day they're

put in a shute. he can sell them for three times the price of ordinary pigs. chop, chop. no pun intended. >> nice, nice. i'm going to go rescue them and save them all. >> keep them in your back yard? >> keep them away from you. >> you're having tofurkey this thanksgiving i assume. time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. it is that time again. in a white house thanksgiving tradition, president obama will spare the lives of two lucky turkeys, the pair, gobbler and cobbler has been living it up at the w hotel in d. v. before the special ceremony in the rose garden. celebrities an local leaders will gather to feed some 3500 homeless at the mission in los angeles. in new york today workers will begin inflating the famed balloons ahead of the macy's

thanksgiving day parade. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. finally, here is a look at what's coming up later on the "today" show. find out the latest details on the crisis of the middle east as secretary clinton tries to broker a truce. a week of thanksgiving concerts wraps up with pit bull live on the plaza. now keep it on this chnel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

a bus explosion in israel sending nearly a